


putting a ring on it

by The_Eclectic_Bookworm



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 12:06:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13763808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Eclectic_Bookworm/pseuds/The_Eclectic_Bookworm
Summary: “Um, proposing is kinda huge, Giles. You got any big plans in mind?”





	putting a ring on it

On Jenny and Giles’s third anniversary (“holy _shit,_ ” Jenny said, laughing and delighted, “I’ve never been in a relationship that’s lasted this long,”) they drove down the coast with the children to a boardwalk with arcades and fun rides and lots of prizes. Willow immediately started trying to win Tara the biggest teddy bear possible while being as inconspicuous as possible, Buffy settled herself on the beach to work on her tan, Faith splashed around in the ocean with Anya, Dawn dragged Xander to one of the rollercoasters with her, and Giles and Jenny walked down the pier, hand in hand.

It was a very quiet day. Giles sort of expected something supernatural and awful to happen; three years in a committed relationship as a Watcher had taught him that an uncomplicatedly romantic night in was something that was genuinely hard to come by. But the sky stayed blue, and they were far enough away from Sunnydale that no one knew them well enough to ask them for help, and Jenny’s dark hair (longer and a bit curlier than when he first met her) caught the sunlight in a toasty-warm way that Giles felt when she rested her head on his chest.

“Joyce said she’d pick up all the kids and take them home so we can spend the night out of town without having to drive them all back,” Jenny was saying, curled in Giles’s lap on a brightly-colored wooden beach chair. She was wearing a floppy sun hat borrowed from Willow and a pair of sunglasses with neon-pink lenses that she’d won as a prize at one of the arcade games. “I brought a change of clothes along, so if you want to head to some amazing restaurant before the hotel, I’m all set for black-tie.”

“There’s a very nice place within driving distance,” Giles answered, smiling a bit. “Candlelit. Quite romantic.”

“Sounds good,” said Jenny, tucking her head into his shoulder. They watched the waves for a while, and then she said, “What do you think year four’s going to be like?”

Giles considered the question. “More or less the same,” he said, “if not a bit better,” which was the truth. Being in a long-term relationship with someone hadn’t been something he was all that accustomed to, and having to actually talk through his problems with someone was definitely still something he was working on. But it had gotten better—that first year was _horrible_ —and he liked to think that they were getting better. He liked thinking about them in five years, ten, twenty—

This felt like something of an important realization to Giles, something that he thought should frighten him. But Jenny was soft and warm in his arms, and watching the ocean with her, he couldn’t feel anything but calm. “I love you,” he said, softly; after three years with her, the words came effortlessly and without shyness. He liked that.

Jenny, half-asleep in the sunlight, hummed contentedly. “I love you too,” she mumbled into his neck, and Giles felt her press a clumsy, smiling kiss under his jaw before she turned her head back to the ocean.

Giles started thinking about rings.

* * *

 

Buffy was the one he told first. There were many reasons for this, but mostly it came down to the fact that Buffy was very important to him and he wanted her opinion on the matter. He wasn’t sure how to bring it up, though, because Buffy currently wasn’t listening to a word he was saying. “Hold _on,_ Giles,” she said, tugging on his sweater-sleeve, “I wanna go in and check out those shoes.”

Giles probably shouldn’t have decided to take Buffy out for lunch to tell her about his plan to propose to Jenny. She got very easily distracted by store windows. “Just—a moment,” he said uncertainly. “Buffy—there’s something I have to tell you.”

“Apocalypse?” Buffy turned to him expectantly.

“No—”

“The Watchers’ Council wants you back?”

“No, but—”

“You’re finally gonna pop the question to Ms. Calendar?”

Giles, taken by surprise, turned scarlet. “Um,” he managed weakly.

“Oh my _god,_ ” said Buffy, a disbelieving smile spreading across her face, “I was just making fun of you, I didn’t think—”

“Well, it’s—”

Buffy motioned for Giles to be quiet and grabbed his arm, steering him into a more secluded part of the street. _“Giles!”_ she shrieked, and hugged him uncomfortably hard.

Giles hugged her back, too relieved by Buffy’s delighted reaction to be bothered by her Slayer strength. “Yes,” he said, grinning at Buffy as she pulled away. “Um, nothing’s—definite, really, and this is the first time I’ve ever—I mean, I rather wanted to talk to you about it.”

“Well, _obviously_ I approve,” said Buffy, “no question, this is _Ms. Calendar_ we’re talking about. You guys have been in love since—” She frowned a little, thinking, then, “I mean, _basically_ since I met you. Arguing is pretty much your weird nerd foreplay, right?”

There was a very awkward silence.

“Can we, uh, reboot that conversation?” said Buffy, looking genuinely horrified with herself.

“Please,” said Giles in a strangled tone of voice.

Buffy made a face. “Okay,” she said, and then bit her lip, smiling a little. “Um, proposing is kinda huge, Giles. You got any big plans in mind?”

“I don’t know,” said Giles, feeling the beginnings of nervous worry. “I—haven’t exactly proposed to anyone before.”

“Ms. Calendar’s not exactly high-maintenance, though,” Buffy pointed out. “It’s not like she’s expecting white doves and trumpets and all that jazz. I think you should just—keep it simple. Tell her you’re crazy about her and you want to put a ring on it.”

Giles winced a bit. Then he said, “I—was hoping for something a bit more romantic, actually.”

Buffy made a face. “You’re _so_ Giles-y sometimes,” she said, waving a hand as though this explained everything. “If you wanna go with romance, fine, but I don’t know if that’s really Ms. Calendar’s style. Just—tell her how you feel. No ribbons or bows or anything to make it look perfect, okay? I’m pretty sure it’s perfect as it is.”

This was quite poignant, and made Giles feel quite glad that Buffy had been the one he’d chosen to tell. “Thank you,” he said softly. “That helps.”

Buffy looked up at him, grinning. “Anytime,” she said. “Hey, you wanna try a few practice speeches out on me?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Well, you can’t get help from Willow and Faith,” Buffy explained, “they can’t keep secrets from Ms. Calendar to save their life. And Xander would just be awful and give you lots of advice you don’t want, and Anya’s not that romantic, and Tara is too nice to tell you when you’re doing things wrong, and Dawn’s basically a baby, so that leaves me.” She finished with a dramatic flourish. “Your personal romantic counselor. Who is _way_ better than that chair you used when you were trying to figure out how to ask Ms. Calendar out during my junior year.”

“Oh, dear lord,” said Giles. “I should’ve just told Jenny and been done with it.”

“Lesson one,” said Buffy, “ _just telling Jenny and being done with it_ is not a good way to propose to someone.”

“Well, I’m aware of _that—_ ”

“Hit me with it, Giles,” said Buffy, waving her hand. “I’ll be your wing-woman! Or wing-Slayer! No, wait, that sounds like I hurt birds, that’s not cool.”

Giles rolled his eyes. “Jenny,” he said, and found himself stuck. There were a thousand things he wanted to say to her, and he didn’t know how to fit them all into one single speech.

“That’s a start,” said Buffy encouragingly. “What comes next?”

Giles let out a nervous, shaky breath. “I don’t know,” he said a bit hopelessly.

“Hmm,” said Buffy. “Well, as your new romantic counselor—”

“Please, Buffy, stop calling yourself that—”

“—your homework is now to write up a draft of a super mushy, super amazing proposal speech ASAP,” Buffy finished with satisfaction. “You don’t have to show it to me if you don’t want to,” she added more earnestly, “I just—I think it might help you get your thoughts in order. Ms. Calendar’s totally going to love whatever you come up with, Giles, but I think you want to make this a moment _you_ can be proud of, and that’s cool too.”

Giles smiled a little. “You’re most likely right,” he said. “I just—I want her to have a memory she’ll look back on with fondness instead of laughing about how I tripped over my words and stumbled on a chair while I was trying to casually talk to her about marriage.”

Buffy shook her head emphatically. “Giles,” she said, “ _come on_ , have you _seen_ how blushy Ms. Calendar gets when you tell her she’s pretty? Even when you get all stammery and dorky? There’s no _way_ she’s going to be anything but crazy in love when you propose.”

“I hope so,” said Giles hesitantly.

* * *

 

it was actually Jenny who brought up the subject of their future first, when Giles was drawing up the papers for the Magic Box and trying to figure out whose name he wanted to put down first when it came to being co-owners. She slid her arms around his shoulders, leaning down over him as he sat and fussed over legal proceedings, and rested her chin on the top of his head as she said meditatively, “You know, opening a store together is kind of a big thing.”

“Oh?” said Giles, who hadn’t even considered this.

“Yeah,” said Jenny. “Pretty significant commitment.”

Giles stilled, apprehensive. He’d bought a ring a few days ago, hidden it in an envelope between two of his oldest books in his dustiest bookcase, and he was still trying to work up the courage to stumble through a proposal. “Well,” he said hesitantly. “Is that—something—that appeals to you?”

Jenny was quiet for a moment. Then she said, soft and a little nervous, “Um, yeah. Yes. I’m not usually one for, uh, long-term things, but I, I guess you’re the exception.”

Jenny was not, by nature, a very romantic person. It was very clear that this was because Jenny had had a lot of bad experiences with being open and kind and unguarded in a family that valued logic and pragmatism and blind loyalty, and because there had been people who had taken advantage of her trust, and as such, even after three years, she didn’t generally admit very easily or very comfortably to how much she loved Giles. She was getting better, of course, just like Giles, but she was much more hesitant than him in this aspect. To Giles, he always found it a little odd when outsiders described her as fearless; he knew quite well how frightened Jenny could be, how deep her desire for comfort ran.

It was because of this that Giles’s heart caught a bit in his chest at her clumsily loving words. He placed the pen down, reaching up to place his hands over hers, and couldn’t find anything at all to say, he was so overwhelmed by how much he loved this woman. He didn’t even know if he needed marriage, anymore; just _being_ with Jenny was more than enough.

But then Jenny said, “Oh—hold on, Rupert,” and pulled away, and before Giles knew what she was doing she’d gotten down on one knee next to his chair.

“What,” he said, feeling like he was missing a very crucial part of the puzzle.

Jenny took a breath. “Just—listen,” she said, and tucked her hair nervously behind her ear, giving him a small, scared smile. “God, this is uncomfortable. Okay. Um, you’re _really_ romantic, and I’m not, and—and marriage has never held any actual sentimental weight with me, but I know it does to you. And—you make me happy, and that’s so crazy, because I was really angry and sad and lonely before I met you, and I think—I want to be with you—for a really long time.”

Giles was breathless.

“I don’t—know—how to do this,” said Jenny awkwardly. “It seemed like a really good idea, and—I kinda just came up with it right now—you wanna get married?”

Giles stared, then grinned slowly. “Hang on,” he said, and jumped up from his chair.

“Rupert, I’m kinda still on the floor—”

“Good _lord,_ Jenny, give me a _minute,_ ” said Giles over his shoulder, hurrying to the bookcase and carefully sliding out one of the old books.

“Is now really the time to catch up on some reading?” Jenny’s voice was strained and a little embarrassed.

Giles pulled out the envelope and turned to face Jenny, carefully removing the ring. Jenny’s eyes widened and she stood up very fast, clapping her hands over her mouth. “I did draft a speech,” he said apologetically, “but—”

Jenny laughed a little tearfully. “Oh my _god,_ ” she said. “How long have you had that?”

Giles winced. “Two weeks?” he said. At Jenny’s look, “Three, but to be fair, it took me a _very_ long time to pick out a ring.”

Jenny sniffled, wiping her eyes. “I didn’t think—” Her voice caught. “I mean, _wow,_ no one’s ever proposed to me before. Especially not _you,_ Rupert, you take everything so seriously, that’s _completely_ different from me just deciding I want to show you how much I love you—”

“To paraphrase Buffy,” said Giles, smiling slightly, “I was _nothing_ but crazy in love when you proposed.” He crossed the room, getting awkwardly down on one knee. “Good lord, you’re right, this _is_ uncomfortable,” he said, grinning a little and reaching up to kiss Jenny’s hand.

“So we’re getting married?” Jenny bit her lip, smiling. “Ugh, I’m all teary.”

“Shh,” said Giles. “I still haven’t gotten my speech in.” He squeezed Jenny’s hand, slipping the engagement ring onto her finger. “Jenny,” he said, “I love you. Will you marry me?”

“That’s not your best work,” said Jenny, dropping to the floor and kissing him.

“A for effort?” Giles murmured against her mouth.

“Shut up and marry me, England.”

“Now _that’s_ a proposal worth remembering.”


End file.
